Dear Jerry: Celebrating the Music of Jerry Garcia

      Hello everyone. I hope you are surviving the rather early mugginess we are experiencing. But I'm not here to talk about the weather, I'm here to discuss the once in a life time event that is Dear Jerry: A Celebration of Jerry Garcia, which occurred on May 14^th, 2015 at Merriweather Post Pavilion.
      My beautiful and smart girlfriend Casey scored us these very tough tickets during the pre sale. I had some friends that haven't been to a show in years who were surprised how fast they sold out. One of the downsides of technology. For big shows, you almost have to bite the bullet and overpay for a ticket. I did it for part of the Phish West Coast Summer Tour 2013 and NYE 2010. But we got tickets at face value and I had been counting down the days until the show.

You can stream the show here

http://www.panicstream.net/vault/dear-jerry-05142015-columbia-md/

Dear Jerry: Celebrating the Music of Jerry Garcia
14 May 2015
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Columbia, MD

Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann’s Billy & The Kids, Bob Weir, Allen Toussaint, Bruce Hornsby, Buddy Miller, David Grisman, Eric Church, Grace Potter, Jimmy Cliff, Jorma Kaukonen, Los Lobos, Moe., O.A.R., Peter Frampton, The Disco Biscuits, Trampled By Turtles, Widespread Panic, Yonder Mountain String Band And Communion Featuring Phil Lesh, Stu Allen, Grahame Lesh, Ross James, Alex Koford, And Jason Crosby.

Communion with Phil Lesh

The Wheel > Uncle John’s Band, Standing on the Moon, Liberty

Allen Toussaint with House Band Get Out My Life Woman

David Grisman & Sam Bush with House Band Shady Grove

Peter Frampton & Bill Kreutzmann with House Band (I’m A) Roadrunner

Buddy Miller with House Band Deal

Jorma Kaukonen with House Band Sugaree

Jimmy Cliff with House Band The Harder They Come

Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Dave Schools, Bill Kreutzmann & Jimmy Cliff with House Band

Attics of my Life > Fire On The Mountain

Billy & The Kids

Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin’s Tower

Disco Biscuits with Bill Kreutzmann & Tom Hamilton

Scarlet Begonias > I Know You Rider

moe. Loser

O.A.R. St Stephen

Bob Weir & Los Lobos Not Fade Away > Bertha

Trampled By Turtles Brown Eyed Women

Yonder Mountain String Band Shakedown Street

Bob Weir with House Band Days Between

Grace Potter, Bob Weir, Matt Burr with House Band Friend of the Devil

Eric Church with House Band Tennessee Jed

Widespread Panic Morning Dew

Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann & Mickey Hart Touch of Grey

Most Of The Evening’s Performers Ripple

      I hit traffic on route 29 right as you get off the exit for MMP. I have never hit traffic here for any show including the crazy late 90's Phish shows. It took us an hour to get into the Lot and parked, about a mile or so. Why? Because they set up Shakedown Street right where everyone had to drive into the Lot. People milling about everywhere, rather disorganized but as it is with most things associated with the Dead. 

This bus was at every Dead show I was at. Just don't drink their Kool Aid.

 
      Once I got parked, I was able to truly appreciate how great the Lot was. The police didn't bother anyone vending. They were extremely chill for Howard County police and I must commend them for that. The variety of goods that were being hawked was rather mind blowing. Amazing wood carvings, some beautiful hand blown glass dab/nail rigs, original t shirts, and so much more.
      The Lot and crowd itself were very different from a Phish or Panic Lot. I can't really describe it other than a lot more older people but it was definitely a Dead lot, even more than what I saw at Furthur shows IMO.
      After scoring a great Pigpen shirt, we headed into a really packed lawn. More packed than I ever saw it for a sold out Phish show. Phil was up first and it was great. I haven't even heard Communion before but the harmonies were tight. Allen Toussaint is an old school New Orleans musician who wrote Sneakin' Sally through the Alley among other tunes. He also arranged the horns parts for all the Band's songs. If you ever saw The Last Waltz, you know how talented this guy is. I was also pleased they were playing tunes from Jerry's solo career in addition to the Dead tunes.
      I haven't seen Grisman live since 1996 and never saw Sam Bush who laid down some tasty fiddle licks. Peter Frampton was an odd choice and kept his reputation up as the typical classic rock live album 1970's rock star he is. In light of some of the artists that were cut, he should have been at the top of the list. Buddy Miller was an unknown to me but was good. It was great to see Jorma up there. He was there at the beginning with the Jefferson Airplane and through the years with Hot Tuna. Check out Tuna's early 70's stuff to experience his greatness.
      Next up was reggae legend Jimmy Cliff. His voice is still as silky smooth as it was in the 70's. Check out the movie Harder They Come. The version I saw on a VHS tape had such thick Jamaican accents it had English subtitles on it. The Fire On the Mountain that had everyone on it was super cool as well.
     Following him was another band I was really looking forward to, Billy (Kruetzman) and the Kids. They were high energy Dead, much like Joe Russo's Almost Dead is. No offense to Furthur or Bobby/Phil's solo stuff, but these youngsters tear this shit up. The Scarlet>Rider>Scarlet with the Biscuits was the best versions I've heard Billy do with them. The Barber sang better than I've ever heard him. And after the traditional peak part during the transition, they took deep into Bisco territory. It was really cool to hear that. Flashed back to the first Camp Bisco way back in 2000. Good times indeed.
      Moe. was up next and did a decent version of Loser. But unfortunately, I had to work the next day at 5 am and had worked the day of the show at 5 am so I was freaking exhausted. I got to see everyone I wanted to except for Panic and them they had to cut a song due to the curfew. They also had to cut Railroad Earth and Greensky Bluegrass. How you don't cut O.A.R. and Frampton before those two bands is beyond me. And Phil not coming out at the end with everyone else? Weak sauce. I know one can build up a lot of grudges over 50 years, but this show as all about Jerry but I guess we should feel lucky he is doing the fare Thee Well shows if that is how he really feels. Remember, he did skip the 2005 Jerry celebration at the Greek Theatre.
      So there you have it. Feel very blessed such a great event took place at Merriweather, so close to my crib. And it was great seeing so many friends down there. For you youngins who never got to see the boys, that Lot scene and crowd were a pretty damn close approximation of what it was like. Next up, 20 Years Ago Today stories about Phish Summer '95 tour and my final 2 Grateful Dead shows.



Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll

Tales from the Devolver Side: Oct 20th, 2000, early and late show

      Hello people. Hope all is well in your 'hood. Sometimes in our trip on this planet, there are events that are burned into memory. And this my friends, is one of those nights. So without further ado, allow myself to present another installment of Tales From the Devolver Side, October 20, 2000, a day with 2 performances in two different locations and a meeting of the elite of Hanover money and the elite of Hanover Headiness.
      Devolver's first show was at the York Fairgrounds at an event called “Scare at the Fair”, hosted by 98YCR. Part of the show was broadcast over the radio. Bootleggers, roll your tapes! We all met at WC's house. ( As usual, I've slightly changed the names to protect the identities of my friends that are now grown ups with kids, responsibilities and reputations.) We were chilling out and and pregaming and WC declined. I can still picture him playing Foosball and saying, “No thanks. I'm gonna take it easy tonight”. Famous last words.

You can stream the show here

https://archive.org/details/devolvermusic2000-10-20

10/20/00 “Scare At the Fair” York Fairgrounds, York, PA
**evening show
**portions of the performance were simulcast on 98.5 WYCR
Going Down The Road Feeling Bad, Waiting By the Sand, Cafe Latte, Strange Red Afternoon, An Old Man & His Beer, Looking Blind, Surprise Surprise, Surprise, Glass Hawk, Edge of Town


We set up, kicked ass and then split. We had a good amount of the family up there. Then we all headed back to Hanover to play my buddy Will's birthday party.

You can stream the show here

https://archive.org/details/devolvermusic2000-10-21

      And yes, this show took place on the 20^th, so it should be 2000-10-20b, but due to the naming matrix on Archive, I had to label it the next night. There are a few other mislabeled shows. Bonus points to anyone that can find them

10/20/00 Will's Birthday Bash, Hanover, PA
**late evening show
**acoustic performance (Josh on a stripped-down set)
I: Soul Shakedown Party, Shakedown Street->El Nino->Shakedown Street, Turnaround, Highway 29
->Tangled Up In Blue->Highway 29
II: Golden Years*->Funk II->Psycho Killer->El Nino, Happy Birthday, Crosseyed & Painless->Bubble Speak


*First time played

      Now this show was quite a different scene than anything the boys had played before. Evidently, Will's parents had a lot of money, because a lot of wealthy people were at this party. I recognized a few, because I travel in all the social circles of Hanover. It was catered and had 2 bartenders. One was only making strawberry daiquiris. Everyone there was dressed up rather nicely and this band of merry pranksters roll up and are ready to freak people out.

       They had a 3 piece jazz combo playing upstairs and told us to go downstairs and set up. It was a rather small space so only one electric guitar and a stripped down kit for Josh. Jake comes up to me and says “There is someone who wants to say Hi” It turned out to be my old friend from the Weis days Andy Arigo. See I told you it was a high class affair. I remember future restaurant mogul Melinda slapping someone from our family and Bucket asking an older woman if she wanted to puff. We also drank so much they ran out of strawberry daiquiris. And WC? He ended up passing out in Will's front yard. Sager had a great photo of what looked like Zach pissing over him, but it was just an optical illusion.

      But Will had a great time and loved us, so that's what really matters. Check out all the shows on the Archive. Its free and they will be there as long as the Internet stands.

https://archive.org/details/DevolverMusic

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll

It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Widespread Panic, Live at Bucknell University, April 28th,1995

      Hello everyone. Hope you are surviving the down right chilly weather we are having this weekend. I even had to turn my heat back on for a little. Today I am writing about a show where I first GOT one of my favorite bands. I also reconnected with a few of the guys that got me into this band over the last year, so what better time that to present another one of my local renowned blog entries, It Was 20 Years Ago Today, Widespread Panic, Live at Bucknell University, April 28^th, 1995 in Lewisburg, PA.

You can stream the show here

http://www.panicstream.com/vault/widespread-panic-04281995-lewisburg-pa/

      I got introduced to WSP in the early 90's. I had read about them in Relix and a few of the Heads I met at Penn State had shows of them on tape. Most of the tape trading I did through the mail were all Grateful Dead related. But Pratt, Adam, and a few others had a nice selection that slowly introduced my to this new music, not quite Southern rock, not quite alternative/college rock, with more than a dash of GD influence. First time I ever played a album for Adrian, he swore it was the Dead until he heard John Bell's voice.

      Adam was a Head from upstate New York I got to know. We recently reconnected in Vegas for Phish's Halloween run. He saw his first Dead show in 1987 when he was 16 or 17. His parents or friends of his parents did the catering for the Dead's East Coast tours so he was hooked up. Saw the Warlock shows in Hampton in 1989 and even a show in Europe during the 1990 Fall Tour. And he was hooked up with Widespread. He had an all access pass for the Spring Panic Tour. (All of the above is based on my memory, I may have a few details wrong. If so, my bad). He even had Col. Bruce Hampton's phone number and had golfed with him. I was hoping we maybe would be able to meet the band but alas that did not occur.

04/28/95 Field House, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA

1: Mr. Soul > Fishwater, C. Brown, Smoke And Burn, Better Off, Walkin' (For Your Love), Gradle, Can't Get High, 1 x 1, Makes Sense To Me

2: Holden Oversoul, Junior, I'm Not Alone, Conrad, Diner, Driving Song > Gimme > Driving Song > Breathing Slow > Porch Song

E: Contentment Blues > Red Beans

[Last 'Breathing Slow' - 09/30/93, 211 shows]

      This was my second Panic show after a HORDE show in 1993, which I remembered so little about I didn't even do a post for it. I knew Mr. Soul as a Neil Young tune and Fishwater has a driving beat so it was a great start. The Fieldhouse was a rather large building with somewhat rather crappy acoustics. I knew most of the second set and an opener of Holden Oversoul and a closer of the Porch Song is just what I could have wanted. Red Beans is a high energy encore.

      I used to run into some of my Panic friends at East Coast shows but hadn't seen any of them for years until the magic of Facebook reconnected myself with Adam and Pratt. I hope some of you are going down to Peir 6 tonight to catch the boys. I have to skip this one but anyone that goes will most certainly be having a good time by the water.

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll

It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Grateful Dead, March 17th and 18th, 1995, The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA

      Greetings everyone. I assume you are counting down the days like myself until Spring arrives. But today I'm gonna discuss a spring many moons ago, way back in 1995. My matriculation from Penn State was only a few months away, as was my days in seeing the Grateful Dead. Although I had no idea about the latter. But it was all fun and the adventure that the road held for us as I roll out another installment of It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Grateful Dead, Live at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA, March 17^th and 18^th.
      As I wrote about last week, a last minute announcement by Blues Traveler

You can read about it here

http://kempepedia.blogspot.com/2015/03/it-was-20-years-ago-today-blues.html

lead me to being in Philadelphia. And where did we stay while in Philly? In a campground in Southern New Jersey. I don't remember who found this place, but it is still the craziest little campground I have ever been to. They weren't open but I guess enough Heads had called them that they let us camp there that weekend. Remember, this is March in the Mid Atlantic. We rolled in and all these animals were running free and greeted us. They had chickens, unidentified pheasants, dogs, and cats. Their office was their living room. But they were super friendly and treated us with respect if not a little bemusement.
      So we get to the show to allow plenty of time to hang in the incredible spectacle of humanity that was a Grateful Dead parking lot scene. We ended up getting some balloons and I had a crazy incident happen. While enjoying the NO2, my friend was talking about how his girlfriend's family give each other presents for Easter. As crazy as this sounds, I had a trip the year before at RFK where this exact same thing came up. Not sure if it was ESP or what, but I doubt it; otherwise I'd be a much better poker player.

03-17-95 The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pa. (Fri)
1: H. C. Sunshine, Wang Dang Doodle, Peggy-O, Queen Jane, Lazy River Road, Eternity, Loose Lucy
2: China Cat> I Know You Rider, Samba, Truckin> New Speedway> Drumz> Watchtower> SOTM> Sugar Magnolia E: Lucy In The Sky

You can stream it here

http://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1995/3/17

      Somewhat of a low energy first set considering how pumped I was for this show in light of my 1993 St Patty's Day show. Vince definitely helped immensely of the harmonies for the recently broken out Here Comes Sunshine. But Peggy-O through Eternity just put me to sleep while Loose Lucy did wake myself and the crowd right up.

      Second set was a whole 'nother animal. The China Cat>Rider was all high energy. Samba I can take or leave it (I'll leave it). Truckin'> New Speedway is right out of a 1970 show, and you all know how much I love 1970 shows. There is more than a tease of The Other One at the end of New Speedway but alas we would not be getting that tonight.

      Rest of the set is typical for the era. The only low light was the encore. The band plays through the first verse but Jerry doesn't sing the lyrics. At the time I didn't know what to make of it, but I'm guessing he was so whacked out on heroin he either nodded off or just didn't realize he was supposed to sing. A rather weird ending to a really solid show.

      We made it back to the campground and proceed to crash. It was rather cold that whole weekend. Low 30's and definitely the coldest weather I've ever camped in. I can remember anytime I moved and cold air seeped into my sleeping bag, it shocked my lungs. It was really brutal. There was a Head wandering around the campground and asked if he could sleep besides our fire. We let him and in our conversations he informed us that New Orleans was the best city to sleep on the street.

      The next day I needed to score a ticket. I had one for the 19^th but had an exam on Monday the 20^th so I had to go back to State College and skip Sunday's show. Now if you are knowledgeable about the Dead, you know that the 19^th is the day of the all time bustout in GD history, that being the debut performance of Phil's “Unbroken Chain”. And while it did hurt to miss that historic event, the first set was only 45 minutes long. It fit on one side of a tape. I view it like they gave us this great moment but cut the set super short. And in a humblebrag here is a small list of the GD bustouts I have witnessed.

3/20/91 Might As Well, 216 shows

3/21/91 first Stir It Up Jam

3/9/92 Satisfaction, 406 shows, first time Dark Star and Morning Dew appeared in same set since October 18, 1974

6/20/92 Casey Jones, 549 shows

3/17/93 first Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

6/30/95 Gloria, 149 shows

I could include Phish but I don't want to make my readers too jealous.

     I hit the Lot early and worked my as off in search of a trade. I finally found someone and I think I had to kick in a little bit of cash as the Saturday show was a Rex Foundation benefit. ( The Rex Foundation was the Dead's charitable arm named after their roadie and later Rex Jackson who died in 1976)

03-18-95 The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pa. (Sat)
1: Bucket, West L. A., El Paso@, Ramble On, Tom Thumb Blues, Jack A Roe, Promised
2: All Too Much> Iko Iko, Playin> Uncle John> Drumz> Jam> Last Time> Visions Of Johanna> Saturday Night E: Rain

first "All Too Much"

You can stream it here

http://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1995/3/18

      First set is typical, as in too short. This became more and more the norm after 1993. So if you ever complain about Phish not jamming the hell out of some first set tunes, be thankful they go out and play for at least an hour. Second set was much better. The debut of All Too Much, a rather obscure Beatles tune, was really cool. Vince did love his Beatles tunes. Iko was high energy and Jerry sounds great. The Jam out of Drumz was also very interesting. Jerry nails the only version of Visions I got to view thanks to the teleprompters they were using at the time. And Rain was icing on the cake.

      I made it back to State College in one piece and then had to digest the Unbroken Chain news. And how did I do on the test? That is one that has slipped my mind.

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll

It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Blues Traveler, 3/16/1995, Live at the Theatre of the Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA.

     Hello everyone. Hope you are doing well as winter does its best to bitch slap us one more time. I am so ready for spring. But now my mind drifts back to another spring, the spring of 1995. I was finishing up my last semester at Penn State with no idea what I was going to do after graduation except seeing more shows. I already had my tickets for the Dead's Spring Tour. But then one day I got a newsletter from good old Blues Traveler announcing a free show in Philly on March 16^th. So without me even lifting a finger, my Spring Tour got extended by one day. So without further ado, allow myself to present the next entry in my epic series It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Blues Traveler, Live at the Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia, PA, March 16^th, 1995.

      The boys had already announced their Spring Tour and I was really geeked to hit another St. Patty's show, this time in Philly no less. And it was much closer to State College than Washington DC. At the time, I had tickets for the 17^th and the 19^th. Then I got the Blues Traveler snail mail news letter. They were doing a free show for fan club members at some place in Philly called the Theatre of the Living Arts, or the TLA. And the free show was the 16^th, the day before the boys were doing their 3 day run. How convenient and cosmic!!!
      I really don't remember too much about the show. The place was really, really tiny. Only other show I've been to there was Pork Tornado in '05 or '06. It was a really good time and just the primer for the boys the next few nights. Evidently, no one taped the show as it is not up on archive but there are plenty of other BT shows for 1995 for your streaming pleasure.

https://archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3ABluesTraveler%20AND%20year%3A%221995%22

      I'm gonna guess we camped as I camped for the Dead shows. But that camping experience is for another blog post. Only 4 more GD shows to write about in this series. The Spring Tour will be up in a few weeks. 

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll

Twenty Years Ago Today: Phish, 12/28/1994 Live at the Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA

      Hello everyone. I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season. I've been having a blast and am ready to watch all four nights of the NYE webcast. I don't always get to do that due to my work schedule. But my mind isn't on the future, it's in the past. Specifically, 20 years ago to the day, when I attended my first NYE run show by any band. I am of course talking about Phish, live at the Civic Center, in Philadelphia, PA Dec. 28^th, 1994.
      I had 3 Phish shows under my belt with the last being the unbelievable, ground breaking, Earth shaking Halloween performance. Check it out here http://kempepedia.blogspot.com/2010/10/phish-halloween-1994.html
     We got tickets through Ticketbastard and somehow found this old dilapidated basketball arena in the heart of old Philly, about 12 blocks from Independence Hall. It was ancient then and home to 5 local colleges basketball games. Just checked it out on Wikipedia and evidently it was demolished in 1996 and a newer convention hall was built. However, it also stated that the Beatles played there in 1964 so now the number of venues I have seen play where the Beatles also performed has grown to 3 (Hollywood Bowl, Boardwalk Hall, and Philly Civic Center) Super dope!
      My normal crew headed out with no GPS but pretty good directions because we made it there. It was A's first show so naturally he took a hit of LSD, well before we got to the venue. So we were sitting in the I-76's world famous stop and no go traffic with him tripping. Sigh. But it wasn't too bad.
Got to the venue with enough time to enjoy the Lot. Scored some balloons and Nad preceded to pass out face first into the concrete. He managed to do this at many shows in the mid 90's. He got nothing more than a black eye and we headed into the venue.

Wednesday, 12/28/1994
Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA

Set 1: Mound > Simple, Julius, Bathtub Gin, Bouncing Around the Room, Axilla (Part II), Reba^[1], Dog Faced Boy, It's Ice > Run Like an Antelope
Set 2: Suzy Greenberg > NICU > Mike's Song -> The Mango Song > Weekapaug Groove^[2], Contact, Llama, Hold Your Head Up > Love You > Hold Your Head Up, The Squirming Coil
Encore: Bold As Love
[1] No whistling.
[2] Vocal jam.
Teases:
· Auld Lang Syne, The Little Drummer Boy, and Cars Trucks Buses teases in Weekapaug Groove
· Buried Alive tease in Julius
Notes: Julius included a Buried Alive tease by Trey. Reba did not have the whistling ending. Weekapaug Groove contained Cars Trucks Buses, Auld Lang Syne, and Little Drummer Boy teases as well as a vocal jam.

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1994-12-28

       Mound was definitely the highlight of the first set for me. Mike was doing the off beat clapping thing over his head. Best description I could come up with. Second set was just one amazing song after another. The Suzy and Mike's were insane. Weekapaug had this cool section where Trey and Fish were riffing off of each other right around the 8 minute mark. The Little Drummer Boy Jam in it at the 14:14 mark of Weekapaug is truly stunning. Trey then takes it down a key and makes it rather demented to say the least. I had no idea what to make out of the Love You song. Phish was still very weird to me.
      But there you have it, my first venture to a NYE run show. I've been blessed to hit quite a few over the years but as they say, you never forget your first.



Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll

Phish, Live in Las Vegas, Oct 31st, Nov 1st and Nov 2nd, 2014 at the MGM Grand Arena

     Of all the cities in the US, few offer the allure and temptation as Las Vegas does. From its early days as a destination for squares to see the Rat Pack, through its transformation to an adult playground, Vegas has always been the twinkling jewel in the desert. But I'm not coming to Vegas to gamble or hang out with Moe Green, I'm here for some unfinished business; that business being Phish on Halloween. So allow myself to weave a tale 16 years in the making, Phish live at the MGM Grand Arena on Oct 31, Nov. 1 and Nov 2^nd 2014.
      Our tale starts way back in 1998. I had tickets in hand for both nights of the Halloween run in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, I had a close encounter of the worst kind on my way up to the Lemonwheel Festival in August of 1998. I was cited by the Maine State police and released. I still made it to the whole festival and can clearly remember telling myself, “This is and was definitely worth the hassle of the arrest” . But because of my legal expenses, there was no way I could swing going out West. I sold my tickets to the only Italian alcoholic hillbilly from Ohio I will ever meet, and left my Sin City dreams to the dustbin of history.
      Flash forward to the present day. Much of my seeing Phish shows involves a lot more travel than in the past, at least via airplanes. So when rumors started floating around that Halloween was going to be in Vegas, that got my synapses firing. It worked out really well that I would do the 3 nights in San Fran and then fly to Vegas for the Halloween run. This would be a first for me; multiple cities and all the traveling done by plane.
      Also around the time of the Fall Tour announcement, I met this super cool chick Casey Connelly. We had met online but didn't meet in the real world until MMP2, you know the show that had everything!

      I got extremely lucky with tickets through mail order. I was able to hook some friends up and trade for what I needed. I hadn't even gone on a proper date with Casey yet but as I told her, “I'm not trying to rush things, but we have to make decisions about these shows. Life can wait, Tour can't.“ So she decided to go to Vegas with this guy who gets really excited about music and has an incredible beard.

      So second night of San Fran, while the city burned over the victory of the Giants in the World Series, Switzer suggested that I ride with them instead of flying to Vegas, as they were doing the whole Fall Tour via car. I said sure, why not? The taxi cab ride to the airport in SF was 75 bucks. So right after the show we hit the road. I got to witness a sunrise over the desert, which was quite spectacular. We arrived in Vegas sometime before noon. I checked into my hotel and took the World's Greatest Power Nap.

      Casey was flying in later that evening so I went to play some 1-2 dollar No Limit Texas Hold'em. While I love playing tournaments, cash games aren't really my strength. But I told myself that when she texted me, I would leave the table no matter where I was bankroll wise. Her flight was delayed because they had 52 WW2 vets on it who were coming into DC to see the memorials. Everyone at the gate applauded them as they disembarked the plane. I'm sure it was super cool and moving. But her delay allowed myself even more time at the table. When she texted me, I was up by 150 bucks and got the hell out of there. We rested up for the next day was one of the biggest of the Phish calender year, HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      We pre gamed at some friends suite in the MGM Grand. It was spectacular, with a view overlooking the Strip and the airport. The bathroom had a programmable shower, with multiple settings and temperature control. Alas, this is the only photo of the place I have

     After helping one friend out with his ticket, we found our seats and got ready for whatever Phish had up their sleeves.

Friday, 10/31/2014
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Set 1: Buried Alive > Ghost, Scent of a Mule, Sample in a Jar, Reba, 46 Days, Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Lawn Boy^[1], Saw It Again > Tube, Wolfman's Brother
Set 2: The Haunted House^[2], The Very Long Fuse^[2], The Dogs^[2], Timber^[2], Your Pet Cat^[2], Shipwreck^[2], The Unsafe Bridge^[2], The Chinese Water Torture^[2], The Birds^[2], Martian Monster^[2]
Set 3: Punch You In the Eye > Golden Age > Tweezer -> Heavy Things, Guyute, Sand -> Tweezer Reprise
Encore: Is This What You Wanted^[3], Frankenstein^[4]
[1] Fish drum solo.
[2] Debut.
[3] Phish debut.
[4] Page on keytar.

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/2014-10-31

First set was solid. We got a lot of the monster/spooky related material right away. The Ghost was good for as short as it was. And I've always felt the ending of I Saw It Again was always rather dark.

I thought the second set was brilliant. We got 10 new jams of intense super Phishiness. Great way to continue the tradition of covering an album but coming up with new songs. The third set had the amazing transition from Sand into Tweeprise, which I missed because I was pissing. The encore was really great. The first song was definitely directed to the fans. And Frankenstein was really well placed. In 1994, they opened Halloween with Frankenstein. 20 years later, they closed the Halloween show with it. Nice symmetry.

Second day in Vegas we fell into a nice pattern. Gorge at a buffet and then play some poker. Neither Casey nor myself had any real luck but over all I only lost about 150 playing cards, so that is pretty good. I got to walk around Vegas a lot as I had to get a ticket and then deliver it to the Most Interesting Man on Tour.

Saturday, 11/01/2014
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Set 1: Fuego, My Soul, Back on the Train, 555, Dog Faced Boy, Fuck Your Face, Horn > Frankie Says > My Friend, My Friend, Roses Are Free, Roggae, Birds of a Feather, Wingsuit
Set 2: Possum, Crosseyed and Painless > Light -> The Dogs -> Lengthwise > Twist > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Harry Hood > Golgi Apparatus > Backwards Down the Number Line
Encore: Waiting All Night, Sing Monica, The Star Spangled Banner
Teases:
· The Birds tease & quote in Birds of a Feather
· Your Pet Cat, Lengthwise, Manteca, and Smoke on the Water teases in Twist
Notes: Dog Faced Boy was played for the first time since June 8, 2011 (144 shows). Birds of a Feather contained teases and quotes from The Birds. Twist contained Lengthwise quotes, Manteca teases and quotes, a Smoke on the Water tease and Your Pet Cat teases.

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/2014-11-01

      Another solid show but its been so long since I listened to it I can't recall too much about it. I thought the triple encore was cool even if a lot of people didn't. And I totally heard the Manteca tease in Twist.

      The last night I got to see my buddy Adam Kreuter who I knew from Penn State. He saw more shows before I turned 21 than I can count, including the Dead in Europe in 1990 and the Formerly the Worlocks shows in Hampton in 1989. He's also one of the guys who got me into WSP. I hadn't seen him since 1999 so it was great to catchup with him.

Sunday, 11/02/2014
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Set 1: Runaway Jim, Foam, Mexican Cousin, Ocelot, Sugar Shack, A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, Halfway to the Moon, Bathtub Gin > Free, Walls of the Cave
Set 2: Chalk Dust Torture^[1] > Piper > Theme From the Bottom > Wombat, David Bowie, The Line, You Enjoy Myself^[2]
Encore: The Moma Dance > Slave to the Traffic Light
[1] Unfinished.
[2] Trey used his megaphone siren; all four band members were on percussion.
Teases:
· Rhapsody in Blue tease in Halfway to the Moon
· The Load-Out tease
· Martian Monster quote in Free
· Martian Monster quote in Walls of the Cave
· Martian Monster quote in David Bowie
· Martian Monster quote in You Enjoy Myself
· The Wedge tease in Chalk Dust Torture
Notes: Mexican Cousin was played for the first time since June 19, 2012 (110 shows). Page teased Rhapsody In Blue at the end of Halfway to the Moon. Free, Walls of the Cave, Bowie, and the YEM vocal jam contained Martian Monster quotes. Chalk Dust was unfinished and ended with Fish teasing The Wedge. Toward the end of the YEM jam, Trey picked up his megaphone and began using the siren on it as he ran around the stage. Mike joined him, and Trey held the megaphone up to Mike's bass. Mike then began playing his fight bell with drum sticks while Trey went to the drums and played along with Fish.  Finally, Mike and Page joined in, so that all four were playing on Fish's kit. After Page thanked the audience and crew, Mike teased The Load-Out.

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/2014-11-02

      I love ASIHTOS so that was super. And any set with Free, Gin, and Walls of the Cave in it is a great set in my book. The second set raged to end the Tour. The Chalk Dust had some great moments that really reminded me of the Tahoe Tweezer. I don't know enough about music to write about them, but Trey and Page hit these chords that were rather percussionesque. The Wombat Crew had their Wombat hats on so that was really cool and the YEM was one for the ages. Over 26 minutes long, with Trey and Mike running around the stage?! The encore was a great sendoff for us as we had to face the reality of heading home after Tour ends.

      So there you have it. The number of people who hit the 1994 Halloween show and the 2014 one is rather small but I'm so proud to be in that select group. And things are going great with Casey and myself. Besides 2 Dave Kemp’s on tour, we are also the second Dave and Casey couple in our immediate Touring family. Up next, my reminiscence about my first NYE run show, 12/28/94 in the City of Brotherly Love.

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll